Replicon Productivity Index Reveals Business Travel Expenses are on The Rise.
But you make it so easy.
This is an actual e-mail exchange based on real people.
Dell
Hi Maya,
I would like to follow up if you were able to call the phone# provided for you or if you were already contacted by our Collections Team. Please let me know if you still need further assistance regarding this particular concern so I would know how to proceed.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Dell
Hi Maya,
I am sending this email in behalf of John since I will be the one handling this case temporarily. I checked your case and found that you wish to keep the extra monitor. I see here that XXXX has advised you to call 866-9018629 or to chat with the returns department at http://support.dell.com/WarrantyPartsReturns. By any chance, were you already contacted by them or the Collections Team? I have contacted them for follow up but unfortunately, I haven’t received a reply yet.
Please let me know if the Collections Team already managed to contact you so I’ll know how to proceed. I’ll monitor this one and send you another email in a few days for follow up.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Sincerely,
Me
No one has called me. I’ve replied to these e-mails twice already
asking for an invoice for the monitor, not to mention the amount of
times I’ve asked for one over the phone. I can not pay without an
invoice. Please send me the invoice. I don’t want any calls or
follow up emails or to call anywhere. All I want is the invoice so I
can pay and get it over with.
The last time someone called me from a restricted number and asked me
for my credit card information and could not provide me with an
amount.
So the conclusion is: Send me an invoice and I will pay it.
Dell
Dear Ms. DESAI, We regret that you need to provide us the type of payment method that you want to use on this purchase. If you are using a credit card please provided us your credit card number, expiration date and special code number. We can’t provided you the invoice you need before you set out to pay for this order. We suggest that you need to provide us the information you need. No invoice will be sent to you unless said purchase is fully paid. You may be referring for a quote for the amount you need to pay and not an invoice. Best regard,
Me
Hi.
The definition of an invoice is a document issued by a seller (Dell)
to a buyer (me/Replicon) listing the goods or services supplied and
stating the sum of money due. That means that I get the invoice
before I give you payment details. After it is charged, I get a
receipt. I will not be able to get you tracking numbers or monitor
specs. This is something Dell should have on file. And since it was
Dell’s mistake, I should not have to be inconvienced. If Dell can’t
keep track of the expensive equipment it’s sending out from its’
warehouse that is your problem to fix, not the customers’. Dell is
trying to collect money from me, so should provide me with accurate
information.
I don’t see why it is such a problem to send an invoice OR even tell
me how much you’re going to charge me.
Warm wishes,
Dell
Hi Maya,
I have got a response from the Collections Team about this request. They informed us that we would need to enter the credit card information first that you would use to pay for the extra monitor before they can have it invoiced.
Please don’t reply to this email with the credit card information as we cannot have a recorded copy of that. We’ll have to enter it as you speak to ensure that your privacy is protected. I tried to call you earlier but unfortunately, you were not available. Please let us know when is the best time to reach you or if you have an alternate phone# that we can use to contact you.
We would also need the following information to complete the process:
1) Tracking numbers for both monitors so we’ll know which was for the extra one.
2) Monitors specs or part# of the other monitor so we’ll know how much you would be billed for it.
Thank you.
Dell
Dear Ms. MAYA DESAI, Please find the email sent by the concern department who can help you how to pay the extra monitor that you want to keep. Below is the email I believed that you have received ahead of this giving you the options on how to pay the monitor. This is the best we can do to resolved your payment issue. Please follow the advised of the department as stated below this email. Best regard,
Me
Send me the quote.
Dell Smells.
I received another call from someone at Dell today, number was unrestricted. The person wanted to know if someone had contacted me about the monitor that was mistakenly sent to me and that I decided to keep. WHAT?! I started trying to explain but then gave up and just said no one had called me. He asked for my credit card information again so they could charge me for the monitor that I already have. I said no, like I said before – I need an invoice with an amount. He does not know the exact amount but will tell some department to call me back. He gave me that department’s number, which is a completely different 1-800 number that I had been calling for Dell. He doesn’t know what options I should choose or what I should say when I call. Why would I want to call them to send me an invoice so they can take my money? Wouldn’t that motivate them to call me? I’m perplexed or maybe just purple.
I’ve Got Commitment Issues
I have a flip phone, it is falling apart, I lost the charger and it doesn’t have web capability. I’ve been waiting for 2-3 months to qualify for a partial upgrade. They couldn’t tell me what the rebate would be until the very day because the computer didn’t know. I found out today that the upgrade is $50 for the best Android in the store. WOOHOO! But in order to get the upgrade I need to renew my contract for 2 more years. If I want to cancel my contract I have to pay $400. If I just want to buy the phone with no rebate it is $500. Is that little phone really worth $500?
What I really want is an i-phone but that means I need $400 to break my current contract because I don’t have AT&T or Verizon. Then I have to go to the Apple store, buy an i-phone and sign a 2 year contract.
With all the technology and gadgets today, I don’t understand why buying cell phones and contracts involve so much commitment and money. Two years is a long time to commit to anything in my world. I don’t even know if I will need that phone in 2 years. You can buy a pretty decent camera for $200, no commitment. Why not a cell phone?
Cell phone companies have too much power and because we don’t have a choice, they’ll always have that power. I’ve always admired people that can exist without cell phones. I would love to boycott!
And another thing Dell,
Do not call someone from a restricted number and ask for their complete credit information. If you can not provide an invoice or an amount and are calling from an unverified number, I can’t help you.
Stop sending me e-mails to verify receipt of e-mails to the same address.
Thank you!
Dell, Revisited…
Apparently Dell did not take my blog post seriously even though they had 4 years to address the problem.
Recently, I ordered 1 monitor and 1 docking station. I received 2 monitors and no docking station. The packing slip says 1 monitor and 1 docking station. After freaking out and calming down and freaking out and calming down, I started looking through e-mail order confirmations and my credit card statement. Defeated, I called the dreaded 1-800 number.
The voice activated response system is ridiculous. I have to hold my breath since it responds to every sound I make. I try not to sneeze or hiccup or move. After I’m blue and about to pass out, I resort to saying the word representative. After saying it for the 6th time my co-workers are staring at me since I’m yelling into my microphone receiver.
Finally I get a person on the line, I give her all my info – name, order #, e-mail address, cell phone #, detailed explanation of the problem. She tells me she has to transfer me but then continues asking me questions. She transfers me to another person. They ask for all my info and details of the problem again. He says he needs to transfer me. I say I’ve just been transferred. He continues asking me questions, tells me he’s in tech support and then he transfers me. I get another person. I have to give all my info and describe the problem again. He starts babbling, then he puts me on hold. The phone is disconnected. I call back, yell at the voice activated system some more, finally get a person, give all the info with problem description again. She figures out that she needs to transfer me but asks me more questions first. I get transferred. I get another person, go through the same routine again. He puts me on hold for 15 minutes. Once back on the line, he informs me that I already called in, was disconnected and there is a case number assigned to it. I thank him for this very useful information. He puts me on hold again-10 minutes. Once back on the line, he tells me that he is taking over the case from the person that created the case number. This is so very helpful. He puts me on hold again. Once back on the line, he says he has to fill out a form and then some other form. While filling out the form he starts asking me idiotic questions, trying to make small talk. I answer the questions in one word answers or “I don’t knows”.
These questions are all unnecessary and probably like most people who call the dreaded 1-800 I am multi-tasking and don’t like being distracted by meaningless chit-chat:
- Where are you calling from? (He knows where I am from the shipping address).
- How is the weather? (This can be looked up on-line)
- Is it 100 degrees? (On-line)
- Can you I call you by your first name? (I said yes but he calls me ma’am and says the word every time he says something.)
- How do you pronounce your last name?
- What time is it there in California? (on-line)
- What time do you leave? (stalkerish)
- I wonder why they sent you 2 monitors.
- Was this on-line purchase? (That’s in the order information)
- Who was it billed to? (Also in the order information)
- What credit card did you use? (Order information)
- Do you need anything else?
- Can you take a survey?
- And lastly, the ridiculous – Did I do a good job for you today and take care of all your needs? (No comment.)
Yo, Desai…
People always ask me if I’m related to someone they know with my last name. I let them finish their question out of politeness and then patiently explain that “My last name is as common as Smith is, in some ways.” They look at me with either disappointment or with a raised eyebrow (as if maybe I really am related to their doctor and because of some dramatic series of events we were separated in the late 70′s.) It’s kind of like asking your neighbor, Mr. Jackson, if he’s related to the King of Pop. On another note, the S is never ever capitalized (just sayin’).
Out of curiosity, I looked my surname up on the Wiki. Some of this I already knew… I’d like to look into the real history of it some day.
Desai is an administrative title and surname [1] derived from the Vedic Sanskrit words “desh sai”, which mean “land lord”, or lord of the land from the highest honor from the king of Persia mostly found in [punjab,pakistan, and persia].
Desai are known as one of the few upper class people. They came from the royal family of kings until the scourge of colonialism destroyed the Desai power and re-distributed Desai lands to others and created divisions not just within Desai’s but also individual Desai families. This period of rapid change since the 17th century when the first European traders set up go-downs in Surat district came to a climax in the early 19th century when Desai lands started getting either split up or got taxed individually. This started a process of educational excellence within the Desai community which fully embraced the western education system to stay in important positions with the new ruling powers.
Desais were revenue collectors who looked after a region or area on the ruler’s behalf and in return would get ten percent share of revenue. Historically, the feudal lords of Western Indian regions of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab and the Konkan regions of Bharat(India) and Goa were honoured with the title ‘Desai’.
Desais are mostly a part of the Anavil Brahmin caste although other castes do have the surname as a title in India, Desais from Pakistan and Persia are mostly Muslims. People from there have been migrating to US since 1650s. There are many Desai’s in the USA, UK, South Africa, Uganda, Fiji, New Zealand, Canada and Australia usually known for being wealthy and very upper class in fact their one of the highest. In the Konkan region, the titular Desai surname is attached to another family name or the name of the village, e.g. Sawant Desai (primarily of Sawantwadi), Rane Sardesai, Raut Desai, Naik Desai. In Pakistan and Punjab Desai are known by their ancestoral villages i.e. Mahuva, Dhandhuka, Palsana, Kamrej, Kharshad, Sultanpur, Varacha, Navsari etc……..
Today it is hard to tell who is a real Desai as many other communities and even other surnames within the Anavils like Naik, Khan, Mohammad, Sattar, Samad, Talwar, Aingh, Zaidi,Vashi and Mehta have changed their names by deed poll to Desai. This fact alone proves that the name Desai still carries some importance even today whether this is real or perceived, although a true Desai can be proven so by asking which villages their paternal ancestors came from and thus it can be traced back to find true Desai lineage or not, as in which place are you a Desai of?
My Name In Lights
That’s what I’ve always wanted.
A few of my co-workers found this interview before I did (because they are internet surfing super heros).
Anyway, I was flattered when Kym Huynh asked me to do the interview via Lorelle and, at first thought I was being punk’d (which I often think). I finally made myself listen to the whole thing without wincing in pain. It’s rather long and I laugh a lot due to nervousness.
http://wordcastnet.com/2010/04/27/wordcast-conversations-12-maya-desai/
What a Way to Start 2010!
It looks and feels like I’ve been in a boxing match. I got 3 of my wisdom teeth out and it hurts, still. They couldn’t remove the bottom left one since it was right on a nerve and there was a 99% chance of them cutting it. Why don’t they just round that up to 100%? I had a bone graft done on that tooth, so they could expose it and do some more work on it later on. I didn’t realize it would still be hurting after 7 days. I am trying not to take so much vicodin since it can be addictive, but still have to take it at night to fall asleep. Anyway, it’s a relief to finally have that over with, something I should have done 20 years ago but kept putting it off, despite advice from various dentists.
Because of the surgery, I’ve decided to start my resolutions in February, like Lloyd mentioned last year. I also think it’s a good idea to take some time to get over the craziness of the holidays and end of year madness.
Before Priya was born, I used to be able to jog 6 miles. OMG. Must start somewhere.
Despite many attempts at yoga, I have failed to catch on. I finally figured out that this is something that you need to consistently do for it to work, not just take a class here and there.
Again, before the big one was born I used to read 2 novels a week and that quickly turned into ZERO. I’m going to try one a month.
Not trying to point fingers, but since the KIDS were born, I haven’t cooked much but have just started slowly getting back into it.
I must must must go to a chiropractor and stick to it, before I need a back transplant.
And of course the usuals: drink more water, eat more veggies.
Get rid of the tv, print and frame more pictures, send snail mail birthday cards, feng shui my office.
I will finish my Events Certification this year and enroll in another program (maybe a writing class).
The girls: teach them more French and Japanese, start a playgroup, a volunteer activity (they might be too young), enroll them in a class and complete my research on where I want them to attend school.
